Apparatus and method for filling collapsible tubes



Julyv 1o, 192s. 1,676;734

` N. M. HOPKINS APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR'IFI'LLING COLLAPSIBLE TUBESFiled Demle. 1922 2 sheets-sheet 1 'July 1o, 192s.

N. M. HQPKINS APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FILLING COLLAPSIBLE TUBES FiledDe. 16, 1922 2 sheets-sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

Patented July l0, 1923.

maar

NEVIL MONROE HOPKINS, OF NE'W YORK, N.' Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS,

` TO GILMONT IPRODUCTS CORPORATION.

` APPARATUS .AND METHOD FOR FILLING- COLLAPSIBLE TUBES.

Application led December 16, 1922.. Serial No. 607,338.

The present invention relates to apparatus or equipment and methods 'forlilling colilapsible tubes/such as are employed in toothpastes, shavingcreams, skin foods, cements 5 andmany 4other substancesused in the artsand sciences, with special reference to designs of multi-compartmentcollapsible tubes. In my several cop'ending applications the earliest ofwhich is collapsible tubes tiled June 11, 1921, Seria-l Number 476,746,and

, more especially iny my later application collapsible tubes withcooperating compartments` contents and orifices tiled November 30, 1921,Serial Number 518,965 together with other applications 'for tubes andcontainers pending beforev the Patent Oiiice I have shownvarious designsot' multi-compartm-ent collapsible tubes of sott or pliable metal oralloy orother suitable material wherein aninner tube is placed `withinan outer tube,

and spaced in a Substantially concentric position. `In still anothercopending applica-- tion machinery and methods for filling and closingcollapsible tubes filed VOctober 17, 1922, Serial Number 595,146 I haveshown broadly machinery or apparatus and methods 'for lillingbi-compartment collapsible tubes, and especially the design wherein aninner vtube is placed substantially vertically and concent-ricallywithin an outer tube and d ependent upon their neck pieces with collarfor centering and holding purposes where both tubes are adapted to befilled with diiferent kinds of substances.

The present invention has to dogwith important details such asautomatically centering the substantially concentric inner tube of abi-compartment Vcollapsible tube combination, and in holding said innertube in a true vertical and concentric position withrefernular spacebetween the two concentric tubes may be lirst filled with one kind. ofsubstance and then permitting ot the withdrawal oi the centering andannular space filling device leaving lthe centered inner -tube heldvertical and concentricby the vertical impact trulyimparted to the neckof the inner tube by the cone shaped member of the plunger and thematerial placed aroundthe same acting as a retaining wall and with thesystem in position :tor the filling of the inner tube. I wish toparticularly emphasize and point out vin my present invention that theilling ence to the outer tube, in order that the anof such abi-comp'artmentjy collapsible soft or pliable metal or alloy tube orothernthin suit-v able material, involves radically andscientillcallythis salient principle yover those involved in the fillingofthe oldfashioned single ytypes ot collapsible tubes. lVith a` simplesingle type of collapsible tube it may be truly and vertically held ineXaet position for `filling by al jig or deeply recessed receptacle. ln'my double tube combination, whereas I may hold t-he'outer tube trulyand vertically in such a deeply recessed-receptacle l must not onlydepend upon the less reliable workmanship of the two interlocking neckpieces with spacing collar or spider'but upon the soft and easily`deformed character of the light pieces necessarily inthis and otherreasons the tubes'cannot be assembled separately by` an attendantoutside' the machine and be placed'in an ondi-l naryjjig and be filledby the ordinary machinery apparatus or methods previously employed inthe art. v l

The accompanying illustrations setlorth my invention in suicientclearness to enable anyone familiar with vthe general art to fullykgrasp my new principles involved and these illustrations 'form a part ofthe present specifications. l f

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a view of my automaticinner tube centering device and the outer or annular space lillingnozzle in section,` about to descend and center the inner tube of a pairof collapsible tubes held in a jig or deeply recessedguide also insectionshowing an inner tube which is considerably out of true due toimperfection in the workmanship of the l held firmly in the jig ordeeply recessed guide and driven down hard against the lower end orshoulder of the inner tube aiter` centering, and not only driving thetwo tubes *tol,grether at` theirv nec-k pieces and collar in a lla-psible tubes in jigs or deeply recessed guides in'variousstages ofbeing centered and iilled with different kinds of material through theagency of my devices and methods. I have not shown a complete systen'icomprising all of the carriersand tube-s nor the full length of conveyorI would employ in practice nor the tube closing' and clip attachingmachinery for purposes of clearness, but I have shown enough to' setforth the principles and methods employed. u With reference to Figures1, 2, 3, and 4,

like numerals refer to likey parts -throughout and with further speeiiicrelference to Figure 1, lOrepresents an outer collapsible tube oi soitor pliable metal or alloy or other suitable compositiomand 11 representsan inner soft orrpliable metal or alloy collapsible tube, or a tube madeof any other' suitable material, with a neck '12 surrounded at ashoulder thereon by ak centering collar 1,3, which has been forced onthe said neck against its shoulderjwith a tight tit, said centeringcollar being notched out and resting in a slightly'tapered recess 14C ofthe neck piece 15 of the outer collapsible tube 10., said neck piece`being extended and threaded as shown at' 16 and closed by the screw cap177. Both tubes are here depicted neck end down, the outer oiithe twocol- H (ill lapsible tubes 1 0 fitting snugly into the or deeplyrecessed centering guide-18. The construction of; the collar '13 on theneck `especially in the copending applications the l serial numbers offwhich are' herein given.

19 isja'turned metall member witha shoulder 20 adapted to receive with adrive lit a, tube 21 opened at the lower' end by chamt'ered or with arounded edge 22. vAgainst the terial entering through the threaded hole29 or the tube 33 screwed therein, would pass laterally through the hole28 and enter the `annular space 30 between the tubes V21 and 24 andissue forth at the constricted orifice 31.

It lurthe'r evident from an ini-ipection of Figure 1 that the aboverdescribed'nozzlev hasA It y will thus be seen' from an inspectionof thedrawings that ma-A so c anannular spacev 32 between the centeringinen'iber 26 andthe inner side of the inner tube 24%. It is also evidenttrom an inspec- `tion oi Figure 1 that the above described" hollownozzle with centering device may be made to descend vertically and thatthe cone shaped member 27 will automatically center the inner tube 10placed immediately below it and firmly held in iilling position andthat` .the rounded or chamtered ends'22 or 2,5 of] the tubes 21 and 24;ywill descend without collision with. the upper open endsoi the tubes-10and 11. y

lVith further reference to Figure 2 the aforesaid centering device andhollow noz- Zle have descended and the conev shaped mem-- ber 27 isforcing the neck and Shoulder of theinner tube 11 downagainst thecentering collar 1,3 and in turn is forcing the centering collar 13ydown into. the slightly tapered recess 111 of the neck piece 15 of theouter collapsible tube 10 and down against f the 18 making'atight ordrive friction.

fit which prevents the withdrawal ot the inner tubell from the outertube 10`by the sliding friction, when the plunger and centering deviceis withdrawn. seen that I not only provide a centering and. iillingdevice for the outer tube or annular space in my bi-compartmentcollapsible tube system, but I hold the inner tube` vertical andconcentric after the' withdrawal' of the plunger and centering device,by the material which has been placed and left packed around it therebyholding the inner tube lin a truly vertical and concentric position for"the second operation of filling said innertube by a separate inner tubeilling nozzle;

y lVith further reference to Figure i.s ,e c'ond sheet of drawings, a.guide is shownV at 34 serving to direct thev tube 33 in a tru .l `.yVvertical sliding c'ourse up and dQWn which may be either manually ormechanically operated.-

With the completed' centering' and filling` It will thus bel nozzle forthe annular space in my system of collapsible tubes shown partly in`elevation and partly in section broken' away'at withmaterial shown inthe annular space 30betweeen the two tubes and the cone plunger 26carrying the cone-27 about 'to descend and center up the inner tube 11in the vouter tube 10 held in vertical position by the jig or guidingmember 18 being supported and carried by the belt 36 sliding over thefirm plane table 37 in the direction` of the arrow and driven by thedrum wheels 38` and 39 in the direction of the two arrows upon' the saiddrum wheels. rI'he upper end of the sliding and filling tube 33 isenlarged at 40 and an arrow 4l indicates the feeding. of material atthis point into the upper end adapted tol move up and down either byhand or by machinery.

The jig or guide 'member 18is again shown at the left supporting a pairof concentric lcollapsible tubes after centering and filling the annular.space withy material 43and is now shown moving over through theintermittent motion of the wheels 38 and 39 and the conveyor belt 37where it has been stopped directly under the nozzle 44 of theslidingtube 45 in the guideway 46 and terminating with a top member 47where an arrow 48 indicates the entrance of material from a differentreservoir and of a different composition from that previously suppliedto the annular space as received at 43. Material 49 is shown within thebroken away section of the nozzle'44. It is now quite evident from aninspection of this device that the nozzle 44 may descend in the centeredinner tube which is held truly vertical and concentric by the materialv43 and that it may be filled with material 49. With an additionalintermittent movement of the conveyor belt 37 we have both tubes shownfilled at the extreme left with material 43 evident that the upper endof the tube 47 y communicates with a like reservoir by means of a rubberhose or other suitable sliding or flexible connection and that means forintermittently feeding or forcing the material from the aforesaidreservoirs in conformity with general practice may be introduced andthat the entire equipment extruding material from reservoirs may beeither manually or mechanically operated.,

The arrows at the sides of the Figures l, 2 and 4l indicate the downwardand upward motion of the paste or substance feeding nozzle respectively,and the arrows within .the tube 33 and the annular space 30 of thefeeding nozzle in Figure 2 indicate the flow of paste or substance. Theoperation of the machine or apparatus in detail islas follows: Thehollow plunger as illustrated and described filled with paste orsubstance automatically centers and enters the system of doublecollapsible tub'es, and descends to the bottom of said tube systemforcing the neck pieces and collar together with a vdrive lit. Pressureis then put upon the paste or substance column from above in connectionwith the reservoir (not shown) causing thepaste or substance to flow.The-,plunger is then drawn upward with a steady motion discharging thepaste or substance as it travels at the same rate of motion until theplunger reaches av point about an inch fromthe top, when the dischargeof paste or substance is discontinued by releasing the pressure uponsaid paste or substance column when the-hollow plunger is accelerated inits upward move ment, and is quickly withdrawn. `This accel- @ratingmovement near the top after the removal of the pressure on the paste orsubstance column is for the purpose of breaking off the paste orsubstance sharply and in preventing it from stringing7 out ofthe tube.This completes the first stage of my process. The

second stage consists of the entrance of the n 1 simple hollow nozzleinto the centered inner tube which islikewise filled with paste orsubstance and descends to the bottom of the tube system. Pressure islikewise put upon the paste or substance column of this central nozzleand it is likewise withdrawn, the paste or substance flowing duringthis'withdrawal movement, when likewise about an inch from` the top-'thepressure upon the paste or sub`- stance column is removed and theplunger is accelerated and quickly withdrawn to prevent the Stringing ofthe paste or substance supplied to the inner collapsible tube.l Theestablishment of the pressures upon the pastes or substances and theestablishment of nozzle motions may obviously vbemanually accomplishedor be mechanically accomplished through the agencyof impellers, cams,connecting rods and suchother mechanical devices and movement-s as arenaturally employed in universal machinery of this general nature forthel filling of simple single collapsible tubes with such substances astoothpastes, shaving creams, cements, etc. etc. modify the, details ofthis invention within considerable limits without departing from thespirit thereof. f

Having described my invention, I claim: l. A method of filling areceptacle comprising separated compartments formed by collapsible tubeswhich comprises introducing matter initially at the bottom of the outercompartment and continuing progres-` sively upwardly to. fill thecompartment while internally supporting the walls ofthe innercompartment and subsequently filling the inner compartment. p 2. Amethod of filling a receptacle comprising an inner and an outercompartment .formed by collapsible tubes which comprises introducingmattei' initially at the bottom of- Zon It is obvious that l mayWithdrawal of the tillingnozzle and prothe outer compartmentk andcontinuing progressively upwardlyto till the compartment whileinternally supporting the Walls of the inner compartment at pointssubstantially corresponding to the levelfto whichv the outer compartmentis illed, the point of support of the inner compartmentprogressing withthe filling of the outer compartment, and

subsequently lilling the inner compartment. IH

3. A method of filling' a receptacle comprising inner and outercompartments formed by collapsible tubes which comprises forcing aSupporting plugr to the lowermost portion of the inne-r tube to iX theinner tubelirmly withinhe outer tube,- simultaneously projecting anannular filling nozzle into the lowermost portion of the outercompartment and simultaneously withdrawing. the iilling nozzle and-thesupporting member from the respective compartments while charging intothe outer compartment material at a rate Substantially corresponding tothe rate of veiated centering device Within the innermost.

tube.

Y 5. A lilling machine for'bi-compartment receptacles., comprisingadischarge member, l

consisting of two tubes, one smaller than the other the smaller placedwithin the larger concentrically with a spacing' between the two tubes'forming a dischargenozzle, and a centrally disposed downwardlyprojecting rod: carrying a centering headmemberv said rod and headmembery being within the inn-er tube. f 1 f Signed at NewYork city inthepcounty of New York* and State of NewYork this 15th day of DecemberA. D. 1922.

Nrvnt nonnen Hommel n, 7

